Dan Pompei

Steve McNair’s headstone could read: Here lies one of the toughest NFL players to ever live.

Really, it is his legacy as a performer. McNair was all heart on the field, and he overcame a litany of injuries that included a separated shoulder, back problems, strained groin, calf, hip and rib muscles, sprains to both knees, a finger dislocation, turf toe, bone spurs and a severely bruised sternum.

His death had me thinking about some of the other all-time tough guys. Clearly, measuring toughness is subjective. Your list might be very different from mine. But I would suspect there are a few players we can agree on.

Here, in alphabetical order, are my top 12.

Chuck Bednarik
“Concrete Charlie” was one of the most savage hitters in NFL history. Just ask Frank Gifford, who was knocked out for a year by one of Bednarik’s hits. A linebacker and center, Bednarik was the last two-way player in the league. Despite the extra snaps, he missed only three games in 14 seasons.

Dick Butkus
Sports Illustrated called him “The Most Feared Man in the Game,” in 1970, and in hindsight he probably was the most feared man in the game ever. Nobody hit harder or competed more ferociously than the former Bears linebacker.

Brett Favre
For a quarterback to start 287 straight games — especially in this era — is unheard of. Favre, who lost 30 inches of intestine after a car crash, is nearly indestructible. And it’s not like he never hurt, as his addiction to painkillers would attest. Favre plays with a courage that is unsurpassed in the NFL.

Jerry Kramer
In 11 seasons the guard had 22 surgeries, including a colostomy, but he still played 129 regular season games for the Packers dynasty and made All-Pro five times. Kramer was overshadowed by bigger stars, but none of them was any tougher.

Ronnie Lott
When a finger injury wasn’t healing properly, Lott informed the 49ers doctors to cut it off. And that they did, amputating his pinkie at his third knuckle. Moreover, Lott was a great tackler, a punishing hitter and an intimidating presence for years in the 49ers secondary.

Jim Marshall
He might be most famous for running the wrong way with a fumble, but the defensive end should be famous for playing in 282 straight games for the Browns and Vikings, never missing one in 19 seasons.

Tommy McDonald
He was the NFL’s last non-kicker to play without a facemask — and it didn’t matter to the wide receiver that he was only 5-foot-9, 176 pounds. McDonald played in 152 of 155 games in his career, which ended in 1968.

Bronko Nagurski
The name says it all. Legend has it the former Bears fullback once ran through four would-be Redskins tacklers, then kept running through the end zone until he crashed into the brick wall at Wrigley Field. He then remarked, “That last guy hit me awfully hard.” At 6-2, 235 pounds, Nagurski was a monster of a runner in the 1930s and 40s, who was bigger than most linemen of his day.

Jim Otto

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It is possible no player in history sacrificed his body to the extent that this former Raiders center did. He never missed a game in a 15-year career that led to 40 surgeries, including 28 knee operations alone and a leg amputation.

Walter Payton
The former Bear was known for the way he never showed pain. After every hit and tackle — even the most vicious ones — Payton sprung back up and walked briskly back to the huddle.

He played in 190 games at the most physically demanding position in the sport and missed only one because of injury. The one game he missed — as a rookie in 1975 — was a coach’s decision, not his.

George Trafton
Because this Hall of Famer played in the 1920s and 30s, Trafton isn’t a household name. But the former Bears center was “the toughest, meanest, most ornery critter alive,” by the account of former teammate Red Grange. Nicknamed “The Brute,” Trafton was known not only for blocking opponents, but also for knocking them out of games.

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Jack Youngblood
The former Rams defensive end played three games in the 1979 postseason with a broken leg. Then he played in the Pro Bowl with the injury. Former coach Jim Hanifan called him “the John Wayne of football.”

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